UNIVERSITY PROJECT | MARCH 2022
AGDA MERIT AWARD | ISTD ENTRANT
THE GRIMM MANIFESTO:
The Grimm Reality *of* Inculcated
Modern Morality
Oral history and fairytales as a serious literary genre that extends beyond stories and ‘happy endings’ explore and demonstrate the intricacies of the morals and values embedded in the human condition. When reflecting on tales such as the Brothers Grimm Collection we can question; How the morals embedded within the stories remain relevant amongst changing contexts? What are the social and cultural ramifications of fairy tales as educational texts?. This publication reflects on the socialisation process and universal truths embedded in fairytales and the subconscious messaging they relay in regards to the human condition.
The GRIMM Manifesto is a modern adaptation of the lessons and morals that can be derived from the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. The tightly structured publication acts as a guidebook to challenge the moral high ground of 21st century society, through the cross-over of the tales and tortures of the ‘pure’ first edition stories alongside modern self help advice, ultimately leading, you, the reader on a journey from confrontation to reflection and then finally an opportunity for action. Written for a modern audience, that find themselves amongst the wave of self help advice and moral guidance publications produced within this intersectionalised and globalised world. This publication is based at self-help enthusiasts who would consider themselves as pragmatists and realists in nature and are actively intrigued by the lessons we can learn from literature.
The book is comprised of two interwoven narratives guiding the reader to engage with fairytales as a serious literary genre whilst reflecting on the morals and values that can be derived from these tales and implemented in a modern context. The fairytales are laid out on double page spreads in a B5 book format with the modern self help guide sitting on half page inserts amongst them.
The concept was to create a tightly structured publication that presents the idea of a ‘no frills’ fairytale, with the stories stripped of their sugar coating and presented as lessons. The manifesto acts as an homage to the nationalistic origins of the Brothers Grimm Tales and their stories utilisation in Nazi propaganda. Overall, the publication was influenced by Swiss Type design and strong grid work to establish typographic order. The folios on each page were used to establish the idea of a guidebook where the reader is made aware of the crucial information for each page and is easily led through each section with clear labelling. Visual experimentation was purely through typesetting to maintain ‘clean’ and look of precision with the layouts. To break up the grid and hold reader interest in terms of visual style, each new section involved a new format, such as bold typographic choices, asymmetric layouts and geometric text manipulations. The Swiss Style guided the minimalistic yet striking design choices to ensure that the publication maintained logical presentation.
https://issuu.com/joellastudio/docs/edited_tgm_manifesto_
THANK YOU!
